childhood vacuums

[smow69]

does anyone have there child hood vacs? do you remember when and where they were purchased? These are the two eurekas my mom bought at otasco in disney oklahoma home of grand lake dam these vacs are still in great shape the coral eureka princess was used very little exept on furniture and such the upright was our main vacuum we also had a hoover lark maroon upstairs it was maroon and was my great grandmothers it burnt in our house fire.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I have mine!!

It's a HOOVER Convetible 67. My father bought it 2 weeks before I was born!Everyone used AND abused it. Tom Anderson put a new motor in it 2 yrs ago. (Thanks, Tom). Last year, I got ANOTHER one from Ed Shenkle in North Canton. It looks practically brand new. Still hums like it's supposed to! Here it is with my 'putty" one and Fred's 68 at the convention.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

1978 Kirby Classic III

My mom had this from 1978 to 1994, but she never did like it. We only really had this at the time because my dad goaded with her over it; Mom wanted to retain her Hoover Slimline canister, but he ultimately won out.

~Ben

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Here's the great John Lucia

running it in my home after last year's convention.

 

[electrolux137]

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I have two of them, one of them the most amazing bit of serendipity you could dream of.

Imagine finding the friend who lived next door to you 54 years ago, with whom you'd had absolutely no contact since moving away in 1960, but wondering all through the years what became of his family and their Model E Electrolux that I was just =beyond= obsessed with!

Well, that happened to me. I found my childhood friend via a chance meeting on Facebook. Imagine how stunned I was when he told me his mom still had "the blue Electrolux," and that if I wanted it he would send it to me.

We as a family moved around a lot -- my dad has a drop or two of Gypsy blood I think. I despaired of ever finding any of the actual vacuum cleaners I remembered from my childhood, and I did try from time to time -- writing letters to folks in Virginia and asking if they still had their old vacuum cleaner. One strike-out after another.

So to then finally have found THE HOLY GRAIL of them all, well....... That still "gives me pause" when I consider what the chances are of that happening.

But it did. And I have the Electrolux to prove it!

Here it is, just as it came to me.

The hose and dusting brush were replaced, and my friend's handyman-father put a new switch on it -- a really nice bit of handiwork so I kept the switch on it even though it's not original. I do have a beautiful original hose that I've put with it, of course saving the hose that came with it for sentimentality's sake.

I keep it on permanent display here in my room where I can glance it and pinch myself once again ... "I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE MRS. STROUD'S MODEL E!!!"[this post was last edited: 3/20/2014-00:55]

 

[electrolux137]

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The other vacuum cleaner from my childhood "that found me" was my Aunt Virginia's old Electrolux. She was Mama's oldest sister. I clearly remember her Model XXX -- it had a blue front cover and blue cord winder, blue leatherette, with an LX-style hose.

She kept in her laundry room next to the washing machine. I never saw her actually using it. I liked its sleds, and one time I took Mama's Model E-Automatic and turned it on its side, dragging it around the house pretending it was Aunt Virginia's XXX!

I never saw it again after we moved away from that part of Virginia in 1960, and actually kinda forgot about it.

Well one day, 15 years or so ago I got an email from my Uncle Bill (the youngest sibling in Mama's family) saying he was visiting Winnie [Virginia's daughter] in Newport News, and he happened to see an old Electrolux sweeper in her garage. She said that it had belonged to Virginia, who gave it to her quite a few years ago when Lloyd got her a new one. Winnie said they used to clean the car with, but hadn't used it in a long time. Bill told her if they did not want it, that he "bets he knows someone who would love to have it...!"

So, to cut to the chase, Winnie's husband packed it up and sent it to me! Needless to say, it was quite an exciting day at Casa Lester when Aunt Virginia's old Electrolux arrived!

It was a mess when I got it, all tarnished and dusty and full of cobwebs and cooties, but it cleaned up really nicely, and of course still runs like a top.

Although I rarely saw that vacuum cleaner, it was magical to me to have gotten it since at the time I got it, it was the ONLY one that I remembered from my childhood. To me, there is something extra-special about having an ACTUAL vacuum cleaner from when I was a little boy.

I don't seem to have any photos of it handy but it was very much like this one, minus the wheeled dolly, a later add-on upgrade that Electrolux salesmen would offer to customers who wouldn't buy a new machine. There was also a retrofit device for using paper bags with the XXX but I've never liked it -- it's cheesy looking and totally messes up the streamlined appearance of the Model XXX.

 

[briankirbyclass]

YES! I have my Grandma's 1975 -76 Electrolux Golden J. Bought in the Spring of 1976.
The Power Nozzle (PN2, with the Golden J sticker on the top) fianlly seized up, and was discarded, and the original braided hose was replaced in 1986. That hose is long gone too. The original attachments are long gone, but i still have the cannister. The plastic on the machine has turned yellow with age, and the motor is a little tired, but still going fine. Even tho it was used alot, it still has excellent suction and the motor is not whiney at all. I use it now and then every yr to keep it going. Still has that "New Electrolux Motor" smell even. Albeit, a little less nowadays.

Like Charles's Dad, my Mother should have been born a gypsy as she loved to just pack up, move as far away as possible and start over,,which i hated as a kid because it was for no reason, othat than she wanted an adventure. Which meant i was always the new kid in school and didnt know anyone.
Problem is, we come from a small tight knit midwestern town, where the familys are all related or friends, from generations back,,and i loved it!
Didnt want to leave my family and friends!

A couple yrs after leaving, Grandma called me one day from back home to tell me she had a supprise for the next time i came to visit,,and BRAND NEW ELECTROLUX!!! And it was GOLD!!! Ohhhhh man,,,it was like winning the lottery,,to me. You can imagine how i felt when the day came that i finally DID get to see it in person and use it.
It will live in my collection now until i pass,,its like my old trusty friend.

 

[lindley89]

The vacuum that will always be engraved in my mind forever is the my moms Rainbow D4. Still has it today and another one just like it at the beach house. And also a old Hoover bagged upright, don't know the model of it; my brother uses it now at his house. Will post what it is when I find out. I was with her when she bought it.

 

[tolivac]

The vacuums from my childhood arfe long gone-lost in the Rapid City flood of 1972-There was a Kirby 511-purchased the year I was born.Then my Stepmoms pink Kenmore canister-that looked kinda like a wheelbarrow-the tools and wands rode in the back behind the canister unit.My Mom told me about when Dad used the Kirby to spray varnish or some finish on the wall panels he just had put up-she told me she was furious at him about dirtying up what was a new Kirby.Since they lived in Ohio at the time-even near the Kirby place-Dad took it there for a refurbish.He then bought a Sears Craftsman Aircompressor for future spray jobs.The Kirby tools got lost somewhere along the way-Mom remembers using them.The Vacuum was sold to them by a DTD "door knocking" "Van Campaign" salesman.Still looking for a Kirby 511 with tools.As a kid loved using both of those vacuums to clean my room!

 

[durango159]

I have some of mine!!!

Here's the Celebrity II Elite canister that my family had. I never had a chance to run this machine with a power nozzle when I was young. But I use it now and love it!!

 

[durango159]

Here's a Dimension 1000 like my famiily had which they inherited when my grand parents had to be put into a nursing home. My parents ordered this vacuum over the phone from our local Hoover Service Center for my grandparents while we staying at their house as my parents house was getting kitchen renovations which had much of the first floor unusable.

The Hoover Dimension 1000 S3277.

 

[durango159]

Here is the 1st of a series of PowerMax canisters that were purchased in my household growing up. My parents purchased their 1st Hoover PowerMax canister on September 26, 1997 which was 2 days after my 15th Birthday. None of us was sure what we'd think of this Hoover but it fit the budget as we had gone astray from Hoover for a couple years and then decided to give this a try. I LOVED THIS MACHINE!!! Really terrific deep cleaner and so easy to use! The Hoover PowerMax S3603-040.

 

[durango159]

Our family also had a Hoover Windtunnel inside the household for a short term. After about about 9 months we realized that we preferred the shorter 12" cleaning path of the PowerMax series over this 15" Windtunnel head.

The Hoover Windtunnel S3630. We bought this from Bradlees. What a great discount store they were!!! I miss old stores like Bradlees, and Best. I also heard great things about Service Merchandise and Caldor but never got a chance to shop at those.

 

[durango159]

This one belongs to a friend and is not at my house....

however my parents bought this machine for their home when I was in 4th grade. My dad came home from this unit from a local vacuum store, which closed many years ago. It was a good machine, went through belts very quickly. We had this for about 5 years when it died. It got replaced by the Hoover PowerMax S3603-040 above.

Panasonic Jet-Flo MC9527

 

[pr-21]

My childhood vacuum is....

A 1946 Premier Upright Vacuum.

This is the vacuum that started it all. I will always be able to tell the sound of one of these running, even if I cannot see it.



PR-21

 

[tase]

I still have one of the two.

Unfortunately my dad still owns his Kirby GSix. Home renovation for 8 years hasnt been nice to it.

However, my great grandmother's eureka is sitting in my basement! I'm too scared to touch it.

 

[vacuser]

childhood vac.

a 517 kirby like the one on the left. mom sold it when i was in my 40's. they bought it new in 1957. what a work horse it was. every friday was kirby vacuum day, first the carpet then the hose & attachments vacuumed all the furniture. loved watching it work ! that's why i got this one to relive those busy fridays.

 

[hygiene903]

Grandma's Hoover Constellation 82

Grandpa bought it for her in 1955 for their last Anniversary before he passed away. Grandma brought it with her when she moved in with us 10 years later, and from then until she passed away it was only used to clean her room--Mom used her Lux XXX to clean the rest of the house. Then when mom moved from her house to an apartment Grandma's Connie came home with me.
Jeff

 

[hygiene903]

Aunt Lu's Westinghouse

When my Aunt Lu (my Dad's sister) and her husband went into assisted living, family members were allowed to take what they wanted of their household goods, then the rest were sold. I was amazed to see they still had this Westinghouse model SC-1 Cannister and snatched it up real quick!
Jeff